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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Kindle Your Friendships

My friend Sardi gave me this photo because she thinks I'm consumed with pastry... I really should put it in a frame... Instead of sticking it on top of my stacks of book...

I have more books than you could shake a stick at. That's what I'm consumed with is BOOKS!

Books support me in so many ways. They even support my laptop... But though books are my best friends, I'm not nice to them. I chopp them up like coleslaw. I blow them up at the copy shop. I write in them with yellow markers. I have to. As an artist/illustrator, I'm constantly researching pictures of whatever I'm painting at the moment and my dear friends, books, hold the answers.

I'm not alone in this act of battering books you know. The NY Public Library used to do it. You could visit The Picture Collection to search for reference shots. You would see all your other illustrator friends pouring over mounted pictures (some ripped out of the finest books). It was a social event to go look at torn-out pictures. But that's changed. The NY Picture Collection is online, so no more chit chat with fellow artist. Quelle dommage. And there's Googlebien sur. I needed pictures of a Roasted Shallot Tart Tatin yesterday et voila! Easy as pie/tarte.

That was a whole lot easier to solve than the shallot tarte. I just headed down to Payard Bakery. Course if I was in Paris I'd be falling over tarte citrons on every corner. They're common as lamposts...

If I was in Paris I wouldn't have to bring my own supply of lemon zest for the shot either. Just head over to M. Pierre Herme for super zesty lemon tarts. Back to my dear friends books. I'm wondering if I should break down and finally get a reader..?

Wasn't it clever of Amazon to call it the 'Kindle' like you're curling up at a friendly, homey hearth? If I had a Kindle I could curl up too...

Along with not having a Kindle, I don't have an iPhone either. Shhh, I don't even have a cell/portable(!!!)

I'm probably the only one on the planet, but after seeing David Lebovitz post on iPhone Paris Apps I'm rethinking. Could I get an iPhone just for Apps? I'm in love with the Paris Metro App. It could be my new best friend, and I promise to be really, really nice. No chopping or blowing up or two-timing I swear.

38 comments:

I am Kindle-less, and iPhone-less...just a simple ol' cell phone that I just paid to add texting to...which is such slow going for me. That metro app certainly looks enticing...there you go again Carol...I am tempted once again. Be safe.

I have a Kindle and adore it (3G), but of course if you need the color the paper versions are the way to go when it comes to books. I have to say, however the Kindle is great for space saving, but it is also harder to share.

Mmmm, the iPhone looks great, but I am still using a plain old cell with texting. I keep asking myself if these things keep me from painting, too? I am of a curious nature.

Fickle indeed!So I guess if, perchance, I ever loaned you a book,I would only get it back...piecemeal?I used to do all that clipping for my reference files...but tossed it ALL about four years ago.Very traumatic. But I survived.Fun post.

So I'm looking and looking at the person in the pic and wondering "wha?"...then I see it...that's a great picture! I received a Nook for Christmas...I love it but the ironies and even silliness of it are not lost on me...I could write a book! My actual books would never dream of turning a page on their own whim according to where my finger happens to be. Also, I could never imagine being without actual books, particularly art books, to hold in my hand, smell, you know, just love, and which, by the way, are easier to heft than a Nook or Kindle. I find it a bit heavy. And one more thing: Re: My Little Paris...Is that the same as the My Little paris blog? I wish I could have enjoyed the blog in English...I do recall stumbling thru often some time ago and finally giving up, wishing it had an English version...look forward to the book then. Sorry for this too long post!

If you can hold out a little while - I've read a statistical analysis of the falling price of the Kindle demonstrating that it is heading downward at a rate that will lead it to zero. This may sound unlikely to you, but I believe the implication is that "soon" (I've even heard Christmas 2011 as a possible date) the Kindle will be "free" with the purchase of x books. Whether it's 12 books or 25 books. I, personally, am in a position similar to yours - I "need" colour. I need images of historical manuscripts. So I'll be waiting for that.I "want" an iPhone; but meanwhile my ol' Nokia 85 will do me.Very interesting to read your other followers' situations, though. Hmmm.

Sweetness--I don't remember seeing the fireplace with all the perfume bottles on the mantel--love that one, Carol! And you paint a mean tart au citron. Wonderful. Good to see you copying away, and creating your own luscious versions of all these goodies!

I do not have a Kindle. However, I downloaded the free Kindle app from Amazon that allows you to use your "computer" as a Kindle reader. I purchased and am reading my first book on it. (It is titled, "On What Grounds," and it is a light mystery novel.) Obviously, I can't carry it around with me. I could, though, if I had a laptop. But I would buy an Apple iPad before I would buy a Kindle. The iPad has a bigger screen, allows you to surf the Internet, and also has all those wonderful apps to download. The new iPad 2 also has 2 cameras built into it. You could easily take all kinds of pictures in Paris to use on your blog. Plus you would be able to type in any notes you wanted to before you forgot them.

The bottom line is, however, I love books! Real books! Books with beautiful pictures that can be drooled over. No one should ever allow anything to take the place of real books. They are our lifeblood! Whoa. Sorry. That's a little dramatic. :O) But if the electricity and/or your battery goes out, you can still read a real book. You can't if it's stored electronically somewhere.

I don't know about Kindles and readers and such. I'm such a tactile reader - also ripping and marking and underlining and post-it-noting and highlighting - that I think it feel too sterile reading on a screen. I love the clutter of books, the smell of the paper and the printing and as they get older, the fingerprinted, chocolate-stained, worn pages.

I've had some of the best reads during long trips, so I love my kindle because it really lightens my load when I travel. I'm also on a decluttering quest in all areas of my life, and found my self getting rid of books I have no plans to read again, so I like my kindle as a space saver too. The advantage of the grey screen is the non-glare so it's easy to read in full sun. I do want an iPad because there are just some things you need to see in color. I've found myself being very selective on the books I actually purchase now, I don't think anything will ever take the place of a beautiful art book or coffee table book.

Don't have a Kindle but a Nook from B & N, because when I need help with it I can go to the store. You also get good deals when you go into the store with your Nook. I love the fact that it holds lots and lots of books; what I don't like is that when I'm on an airplane I have to turn it off during take off and landing like the other electronic stuff. The new Nook has color and pictures so that might be an option for you. You can go to a B & N store and try one out.

Oh that LU picnic basket..Be still my little French heart.With a darling grandson named Lucas..nicknamed Lu..lu:)

Thank you for the link to the NY photos..

Great~I really like books also.That new one you ahve shown looks so interesting:)

I too like the fireplace and teh happy cozy pets,,and perfume bottles..No Kindle here..my Daughter has one and loves it..as well as a dear friend.Maybe one day~I love the LOOK of a book..the FEEL of a book..I have ordered books written by blogs I frequent..I don't think Kindle would give that feeling..

I think you should get an iPad- you can get all the Paris apps on it and the book function on it is much nicer than kindle....and you can get the Kindle App for iPad free! So you would have everything in one place - without a cell phone, but you apparently don't need one.I still have to have a real book for anything related to art...but I am completely in love with the iPad for reading stuff - a total surprise to me!

I am sooooooo not wanting Kindles to take over the world. I LOVE MY BOOKS. I love them in hand. decorating my house. how can a Kindle do that?? My best friend has just gotten one and she says she LOVES it. She can read it so much better layind down and SEE the words better because of the lighting.Two other friends of mine have them and love them but I am holding out. oh and I do have a cell phone.. but a tracfone and its only on if I need it. I hardly use it. I do have to have internet tho. lol

Wow, what a post - something for everyone!I love your book collection and the shots of your apartment - it looks very nice (& lots of light).The opening photo is a grabber - & a bit bizarre.I think that we have the same laptop :)

I have a Nextbook. It's great. A book reader and everything internet - like email, google, downloads, etc. Has Android operating system. Sooo fast....The size of a Nook or Kindle. Just WiFi in it. Great on vacation. But I still buy books. Phone - I have an LG3 which has internet access, too. Not addicted to either one, but am glad to have them. Marie

I am a writer, not an illustrator, so it's very handy for me to have the Kindle app on my Droid phone. This way I am never without something to read. I have a Kindle, I bought it three months ago and haven't even set it up. I had to go out and buy a router? which I have yet to set up as well.

Love your posts! In the past year and 4 months I have made the transition to Apple products. After much investigation. You will love the Iphone with the apps and believe it or not the camera! Perfect for discreetly snapping shots on your travels or for illustration reference. Applications are mind blowing!

The Ipad 3G is a wonderful reader, I purchase from IBooks and Amazon with the Kindle App. Great fro movies, sharing of photos. The best benefit of all was the freedom it has given me. I am able to cut the cord between myself and my computer - get out of the office! This seemingly miraculous device holds software I need plus apps for creativity.

The next best benefit I have found from switching to a singular platform is the synchronization of data.

I need the tactile pleasure of paper. I need to be able to go to my bookshelves and pull a book out, put it on one of my stacks, getting back to them when the moment hits. I find that anything saved electronically is lost to me. I even even trouble looking at external hard drives of old pictures. It is as if they don't exist. In short, I am a real book person.

I am so tempted by the iPhone, though. My kids say I should forget about it, I would not use it. That alone feels like a challenge, though. Maybe I get one one day, and hide it until I know how to play it. ;-)

love my iphone ,for travel it is indespensible for e-mail and maps and all sorts of info . Don't know something ? Google it . but I love my books more .My niece just showed me her ipad - it is wayyyy amazing and so thin and light .

Love your post on phones, lobsters and books. I've been resisting an iphone though I do have a cell phone. The data plans are a costly add-on so you've got to be prepared to pay the extra regardless of how much you use it.

One possibility is to purchase an iPOD TOUCH. As a friend told me, it's an iphone without a phone! Not really, but it does download many of the same apps as an iphone and you can get internet wherever there is a wi-fi signal. I used one in Paris and it was great to send emails and look at MY LITTLE PARIS METRO MAPS that I downloaded. I even have lots of music on it. It's about the same size as a phone so some folks may even think you have a phone!

Oh yes Bill. and the other peeps who need paper books with a place to glue bookplates and write insriptions and tuck in a pocket for a read at the lakeside later in the afternoon. to find old flowers pressed in the pages from lost loves and a bird feather some one once used for a bookmark. I hope books endure, along with lemon tarts!xxjulie

I have an Iphone - just for the apps! Its TERRIFIC!! Oh, so many wonderful apps, most of them are FREE!! And I can read my emails on the go, and your blog . . . my husband made me get an Iphone, and went to the store with him to buy it kicking and screaming, well, we laugh about that now . . .

ParisBreakfast Letters

♥carol gillott♥

l'Ile Saint Louis, Paris, Ile de France, France

Hi I'm Carol Gillott,
My Mom taught me watercolors at 5. I'm still at it on l'Ile Saint-Louis In Paris. Subscribe to my watercolor Paris letters and maps on Etsy and enjoy a Parisian souvenir in your mailbox every month. Savor with a hot chocolate and croissant.
I paint Paris dreams.